A team of seasoned entrepreneurs

Benoit Delestre

Managing Partner

After creating and selling two Fintech companies in Europe, Benoit founded Saviu to invest in ambitious startups on the African continent. Benoit is a long-standing entrepreneur with deep knowledge on how to develop start-ups from seed to growth. He sits on the board of several tech companies, which he advises on a day-to-day basis. Benoit holds a Master's degree from the European Business School (France).

Samuel Touboul

Managing Partner

Samuel has been working for more than 10 years within the Private Equity industry, with a strong focus on Impact Investments and Emerging markets. He started his career at Newfund (Venture Capital, France), Argos (LBO, Europe) and Proparco (Growth Capital & Impact, Africa), before joining Saviu as a Partner. Samuel holds a Master from ESSEC Business School, a Master from Sciences Po Paris, and a PhD from HEC Paris, where he still teaches Finance classes.

Cynthia Mandjek

Principal

Before joining Saviu, Cynthia worked within the growth team of Eurazeo (Venture Capital, Europe), and Orange Digital Ventures (Corporate VC, Europe and Africa). She also has experience as a consultant at Founders Intelligence, advising corporates on their digital transformation strategies, and as Chief of Staff at Aqemia, a biotech startup. Cynthia holds a Master from ESCP Business School.

Papa Mady Sidibé

Head of Portfolio

A graduate of École Polytechnique and CESAG (Senegal) with a specialization in corporate finance, Mady spent three years in the banking sector before joining the Délégation Générale à l’Entrepreneuriat Rapide (DER), a Senegalese government agency for entrepreneurship. As an investment professional at the DER Innovation Pre-Seed & Seed Fund, he supported and financed early-stage start-ups in their first stages of development.

Cecilia Truchi

Portfolio Manager

Cecilia joins us with over seven years of multi-sector experience in engineering, commercial development, and project management across West Africa. She most recently served as Regional Sales Manager at Fluence Corporation, where she oversaw and executed the company’s commercial strategy in the region. Prior to that, she worked as a Business Development Manager at Primus Ingénierie.

Ivan Bahintchie

Analyst

Ivan is completing a Grande École Master in Management at HEC Paris. He previously worked as an M&A Analyst at Generali, contributing to deal execution for ProSeniors Group. He also attended the Impact Investment Banking Academy at Rothschild & Co. Prior to HEC, he graduated from ESCA (Ecole Supérieure de Commerce d'Abidjan) in Ivory Coast.

Mohammed Diabi

Tech Investor in Ivory Coast, Former Chief Enterprise Architect at Criteo, graduated from Telecom Paris and INSEAD.

Arthur Thuet

Former investor at Saviu and co-founder / former CEO at Kamtar (a Logistics startup in Ivory Coast), graduated from ESSEC Business School.

Team